KAEL'S POV
The shadows had teeth.
I'd fought demons before. Hundreds of them over twenty years. But never this many in one place. Never this organized.
Seven shadow demons poured from the bathroom walls like living oil. Their forms shifted between human-shaped and something far worse. Red eyes glowed in faces that had too many teeth.
Aria Chen—or Russo, or whatever she called herself now—pressed her back against mine. "I count seven demons, one possessed human, and zero exits. Ideas?"
"Don't die," I said, pulling silver knives from the hidden sheaths in my suit. "That's the plan."
"Terrible plan."
"You have a better one?"
Her hands started glowing red. Not the gold of angel-blessed weapons. Not the white of holy power. Red. Dark. Demonic.
Because she'd made a deal with the Devil himself.
"I can kill five before they touch us," she said calmly. "You take the other two and Morrison."
"Your power doesn't work on demons. Only humans."
"Then I'll improvise." She lunged forward before I could stop her.
The girl was insane.
Also incredibly fast. She reached the first shadow demon in a heartbeat. Her glowing hand touched its chest—and instead of stopping its heart, she shoved her entire fist through its body. The demon shrieked and exploded into ash.
"See?" she called back. "Improvising!"
"That's not how your power works!"
"It does now!" She killed a second demon with a spinning kick that shouldn't have been possible without supernatural strength. "I've been training!"
I threw a silver knife into the third demon's skull. It screamed and dissolved. "Training with who?"
"YouTube and rage!"
Despite everything—the danger, the trap, the fact that we might die in a bathroom at a charity gala—I almost laughed.
This girl. This absolutely reckless, brilliant, infuriating girl.
The fourth demon grabbed her from behind. Before I could move, she bent backward, grabbed its arm, and flipped the creature over her shoulder. It crashed into the tile floor. Her heel stomped down on its throat. Dead.
"Four down!" she shouted.
Morrison pulled a gun. "My master said alive. Didn't say undamaged."
He fired.
I moved on instinct. Shoved Aria aside. The bullet meant for her heart hit my shoulder instead.
Pain exploded through me. Not a regular bullet. Silver. Holy water. Something designed to hurt supernatural beings.
"Kael!" Aria's voice sounded strange. Concerned. Why did she sound concerned?
"I'm fine," I growled, pulling the bullet out. My supernatural healing kicked in, but slower than usual. Whatever was in that bullet was designed to hurt hunters like me.
The remaining three demons rushed us together.
Aria killed one. I killed another. The third wrapped around both of us—one creature trying to crush us together.
"This is awkward," Aria gasped as the demon squeezed tighter.
"Very." We were pressed chest-to-chest, her face inches from mine. Even covered in demon ash and blood, she was beautiful. Those honey-brown eyes blazing with determination.
"On three," she said. "We both blast it with power."
"Your power doesn't work on—"
"Just trust me!"
Trust her? The girl who'd infiltrated my company under a fake name? The vigilante I'd been hunting for six months? The killer with a Devil's contract?
Our eyes met. And I saw something I hadn't expected.
Fear. Not of the demon. Fear that I'd get hurt protecting her.
"Three," I said.
We both channeled our power into the creature. Her red demonic energy and my gold hunter magic collided—and instead of canceling out, they merged. Combined into something new. Something that turned the demon to ash in seconds.
We fell to the floor, gasping.
"What was that?" Aria whispered.
"Our powers. They work together." I'd never seen anything like it. Angel magic and demon magic shouldn't mix. Should destroy each other.
Unless Samael had told the truth in that text. Unless we were actually soul-bonded.
Morrison backed toward the wall, his possessed eyes wide. "Impossible. Two bound souls. The prophecy said—"
"What prophecy?" I stood up, advancing on him.
"The Devil and the Angel made a bet. About whether cursed souls could choose redemption over destruction." Morrison smiled even as terror leaked from his voice. "You're the test subjects. The Hunter cursed to never love. The Killer cursed to die young. If you destroy each other, darkness wins. If you save each other—"
"We break both curses," Aria finished, standing beside me. "That's why Samael made the deals. We're his game pieces."
"His winning pieces," Morrison corrected. "But my master doesn't want you to win. Hell has a lot riding on you two killing each other."
"Who's your master?" I demanded.
"Someone who makes the Devil look like a saint." Morrison's form started changing. Growing. His human skin split open, revealing something ancient and horrible underneath. "And I'm not bait. I'm the real trap."
His body exploded outward. What emerged wasn't a demon. It was something worse. Something I'd only read about in the oldest hunter texts.
An Archdemon. One of the seven princes of Hell.
"Oh, we're so dead," Aria whispered.
The Archdemon's voice shook the walls: "KILL EACH OTHER, OR I KILL EVERYONE IN THIS BUILDING. YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO CHOOSE."
Two hundred innocent people in the ballroom. All dead if we refused.
Aria looked at me. "Can you kill me in ten seconds?"
"Can you kill me?"
We both knew the answer. After six months of hunting her, I knew her patterns. Her weaknesses. And she'd spent three months studying my company, learning about me.
We could absolutely kill each other.
"We're not doing this," I said firmly.
"Then everyone dies."
"Then we find option three." I grabbed her hand. The connection between us flared to life. "Our powers work together. We proved that. So let's prove it again."
"Against an Archdemon? Are you insane?"
"Probably." I pulled her closer. "But I didn't spend six months hunting you just to watch you die in a bathroom. So hold on tight and follow my lead."
"I don't follow orders."
"I noticed. Do it anyway."
The Archdemon raised a massive clawed hand. "TEN SECONDS ARE UP."
"Now!" I channeled all my hunter magic through our connected hands.
Aria gasped as her demonic power flowed into mine. Red and gold merged again, but stronger this time. Brighter. The combination created something new—white energy with red and gold cores.
Holy demonic angel magic. Something that shouldn't exist.
We threw it at the Archdemon together.
The creature screamed. A sound that shattered the bathroom mirrors and made my ears bleed. But it worked. The white energy wrapped around the Archdemon like chains, burning it, containing it.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" it roared. "TWO BOUND SOULS CANNOT ACCESS TRINITY MAGIC UNTIL THEY'VE COMPLETED THE BOND!"
"What bond?" Aria shouted.
"THE SOUL MARRIAGE, YOU FOOLS! YOU SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO THIS UNLESS YOU'VE—"
The Archdemon exploded. Just turned to ash and smoke.
Silence filled the bathroom.
Aria and I stood in the ruins, still holding hands, both of us glowing with leftover power.
"What just happened?" she whispered.
"I think we accidentally proved we're powerful together."
"But that thing said Trinity magic. And soul marriage. What does that mean?"
Before I could answer, the bathroom door exploded inward. My security team rushed in, weapons drawn.
"Sir! We felt the supernatural surge—" Ezra stopped, staring at me and Aria. At our connected hands. At the ash covering everything. "What the hell happened?"
"Archdemon," I said simply. "It's handled."
"Handled? An Archdemon in Manhattan, and you just—handled it?" Ezra looked between us. "Who's the girl?"
"This is Aria Russo. My new... partner." The word felt strange but right.
Aria's eyes snapped to mine. "Partner?"
"We need to talk. Privately." I looked at Ezra. "Clear the ballroom. Tell the guests there was a gas leak. Everyone evacuates calmly. No panic."
"Yes, sir." Ezra hesitated. "The Nightshade Killer. The one we've been hunting. She was here tonight. Multiple witnesses saw someone matching her description—"
"She left through the service entrance ten minutes ago," I lied smoothly. "I was pursuing her when the Archdemon attacked. Focus on evacuation."
After my team left, Aria pulled her hand from mine. "Why did you lie for me?"
"Because we need answers. And killing you or arresting you won't get them." I stepped closer. "Samael set us up. Made us both deals knowing we'd find each other. That thing talked about prophecies and soul marriages and bound curses. I want to know why."
"So do I. But I'm not your partner. I work alone."
"You can't fight Archdemons alone. Tonight proved that."
"I've been fine for six months."
"You've been lucky for six months." I caught her wrist—that same wrist I kept grabbing. The connection hummed between us. "Whatever this bond is, it saved both our lives tonight. Don't you want to understand it?"
She stared at our connection. "I have twenty-four years left to live. I can't waste time on distractions."
"I'm not a distraction. I'm the only person who can help you survive those twenty-four years." I made a decision that went against every hunter instinct. "Work with me. Hunt together. We'll cover twice the ground, save twice the lives. And maybe figure out how to break both our curses."
"You have a curse?"
"Can't love. Can't feel real emotion. Been like this since I was eight years old." I met her eyes. "Until you walked into that ballroom tonight. When I saw you, something in my chest moved for the first time in twenty-four years."
Her breath caught. "That's the bond. Not real."
"Maybe. But don't you want to find out?"
Aria was quiet for a long moment. Then: "One month. Trial partnership. If it doesn't work, I walk away and you stop hunting me."
"Deal."
We shook on it. The moment our hands clasped, both our phones buzzed.
Same message. Same sender:
"Excellent first date, my darlings! Nothing says romance like demon ash and near-death experiences. See you both tomorrow night—same place, same time. There's another Archdemon. And this one knows you're coming. Sweet dreams! - S"
Aria and I looked at each other.
"Tomorrow?" she said weakly.
"Apparently."
"This is the worst partnership ever."
"Agreed." I smiled despite myself. "See you tomorrow, partner."
As she climbed out the bathroom window (naturally, she chose the dramatic exit), I realized something terrifying.
For the first time in twenty-four years, I was excited about tomorrow.
Because I'd get to see her again.
My curse was definitely breaking.
And I had no idea if that was wonderful or deadly.